As an early-season jolly that provided the simplest of victories, Eoin Morgan’s team will regard the match as a success. But, as a warm-up for what awaits in the Champions Trophy, it was virtually pointless.

Ireland’s batting was dreadful as Rashid’s wrist-spin and Joe Root’s part-time offies shared the last seven wickets. The men in green plummeted from 40-0 and 81-2 to 126 all out.

Rashid took his first five-for in white ball internationals but he was aided by some rabbits-in-the-headlights batting.

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Joe Root played a key role in the ODI win as England won by seven wickets with 30 overs to spare

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It was too easy for England as they proved to be to too strong as they outclassed their opposition

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Mark Wood of England celebrates the wicket of Ireland's Paul Stirling as they romped to victory on Friday

Morgan said: “This was Adil’s day, it was a magnificent performance. He had a tough winter but he’s learned a huge amount. He bowled with a lot of confidence, showed his variations and proved how threatening he can be.

“The main thing for us was the result. We can only beat what is in front of us. We never expected anything and always focus on our strengths.”

It seems Ireland are clueless against leggies called Rashid because they were regularly routed by a man called Rashid Khan in their recent matches against Afghanistan.

Ireland will almost certainly be granted Test status next month with an historic five-day match planned for Lord’s in 2019.
But, as an attempt to show they deserve such elevation, this was little short of a disaster.

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Peter Chase celebrates the wicket of England batsman Jason Roy, but it failed to have an impact on the end result

More immediately, William Porterfield’s team need to avoid further humiliation when they travel to Lord’s on Sunday for the second match in this mini-series.

Ireland’s problem is a group of ageing players, several of whom are now back home after years in county cricket.

But Porterfield insisted: “It would be very harsh to judge our suitability for Test cricket on a one-off performance. The important thing is that we’ve set up a structure back home that is sustainability. Now we need more quality fixtures.

“I’d never use the phrase ‘out of our depth.’ One poor performance doesn’t make us a bad team. We can turn it around on Sunday, we’ve done it before.”

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Kevin O'Brien is trapped lbw by Adil Rashid as he claimed a major wicket at the County Ground

Ireland’s openers actually played some scything shots in the early exchanges and they reached 40-0 in the sixth over.

But, once chunky Paul Stirling was bowled by Mark Wood, playing his first match for England since September following a third ankle operation, the innings went into rapid decline.

The final seven wickets were all taken by slow men and Man of the Match Rashid, preferred ahead of Moeen Ali, poses all manner of problems with his googly.

The Yorkshire bowled said: “It was one of my best performances for England. I’m looking to improve day-by-day.”

In reply, Jason Roy was caught at square leg for a duck but Alex Hales made 55 from just 39 balls and Root chipped in with 49 not out. It was a good day for the Root family – his brother Billy scored a 50-over century for Notts.